Improvement in velocipedes



I i H. LAURENCE.

Velocip1-- de.

No. 92,460. Patented July 13,1869.

new swa Letters Patent No. 92,460, dated July 13, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN VELOCIPEDES.

The Schedule referred to inthese Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY LAURENCE, of the city of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Velocipedes; and I declare that the following is a clear, full, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of the specificar tion, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view.

Figure 2 is a transverse section.

Like letters designate like parts.

The nature of my invention and improvement in velocipedes consists in providing the single or twowheeled velocipede with one or more adjustable auxiliary wheels or casters, so united and connected with the velocipede, and actuated by suitable mechanical contrivance and device, as to enable the person operating the velocipede to place the casters or auxiliary wheels in'contact with the plane or roadway upon which the velocipede is standing or moving, and to withdraw them from such contact, and suspend them in the'air, at the will and convenience of the rider; such additional and auxiliary wheels being so arranged, with reference to the wheel or wheels ,proper of the velocipede, that when the same are in contact with the plane orroadway, on which the velocipede is situated, that together with the wheel or wheels proper of the velocipede, they will form a base or lateral support, and prevent the velocipede from'capsizing and falling from its proper position by the action of its specific gravity, the object of my invention being to enable the person operating the velocipede to make a full stop, or proceed at a slow rate of speed, by the aid of the auxiliary wheels,- without danger of capsizing or falling, and also enable him at will to obtain the .full effect, benefit, and advantage of the single or twowheeled velocipede, by simply removing the auxiliary wheels from contact with the roadway, and suspending them in the air.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construet-ion and operation.

1 construct my velocipede in any of the known forms of velocipedes having less than three wheels, and which will not maintain an upright position at rest without support other than the wheel or wheels proper of the velocipede.

The drawing hereto annexed shows my improvement attached to the common form'o'f two-wheeled velocipede; and in order to obviate the liability to fall of' its own accord froman upright position, I use the auxiliary wheels or casters A and A These wheels or casters may be constructed of any suitable material, and of any suitable or convenient size, and attached to any velocipede, substantially as hereinafter set forth.

The wheels A and A are securely mounted at .the lower extremities of the pivoted vibrating arms or levers B and 13*, so as to vibratefeasily and freely on their centres, in the direction indicated by the arrow in dotted lines a and a, in fig. 1.

The pivoted arms B and B are securely pivotedat the points b and h or at any point on the reach or bar 0, spanning and connecting the wheels proper of the velocipede, which connecting-bar or reach may be so shaped as to afford facilityfor pivoting the arms B and B at any point above the point I), about which the wheel proper of the velocipede revolves, so as to."give any desired length to B and B I so adjust thelength of said arms that when they are in a perpendicular position, as shown in the-annexed drawing, the lowest point of the disk of. the wheels A and A, mounted in said arms, shall be in contact with the same plane upon which the wheel proper, D, is standing. 7 1

I mount and attach the said vibrating movable arms B and B, with their small wheels or casters attached,

one on each side of the rear wheel proper, D,-or the wheel which is not used for steering, as the case may be, at such a distance from said wheel, that the lateral distance between the wheels A and A, when mounted and in place, shall be sufficient, with the other wheels of the velocipede, to finnish full and adequate lateral support to the velocipede, and maintain it in an upright positiomwhich distance will vary according to the height or construction of the velocipede to which my improvement is attached.

When the pivoted vibratmg arms B and B are pivoted, as in the annexed drawing, at the point about which the wheel proper, D, revolves, they may be attached'firmly to a strong pin, which passes through the hub of the wheel D, and about which that wheel re- 'volves, so that, by means of the pin, the two arms B and B may be rigidly connected, and,with the pin as a fulcrum or pivot, move freely in the direction indicated by the arrow and dotted lines a and a, or they may move loosely on the pin, and move independently of each other in the same direction, liftingthe wheels A and A free from cbntact with the roadway.

' If any point above the centre of the wheel D is selected as the point of revolution or pivot of said arms, which is within the diameter of said wheel, then I pivot said arms independently, in any suitable manner, to the forked reach 0', so that they act independently, .when not otherwise connected by the device used to 'actuatethem.

If the arms B and B are constructed of sufficient length to require them to be pivoted at a point above and without the diameter of the wheel D, they can be The vibrating; arms A and A may be constructed 'of any suitable material, and in any suitable form, to

accomplish the purpose of mounting the wheels A and A in the position above described, ata sufficient distance from each other laterally, and so that the wheels roadway, will be in the same plane with the same point t of the wheel proper of the velocipede D, I construct the vibrating arms B and B,with each a pawl or portion, 0

and 0, extending above the point or pivot of vibration, b, so as to form a short arm on the upper side of the pivot, and so shaped and constructed with a hook or pin, at d and d, projecting in such a manner at right. angles with the arm as to come in contact with some part of the rear surface of the forked reach 0 or frame of the velocipede, and arrest the backward motion of the arms B and B at the proper point, and retain them in the proper position while the velocipede is progressing by forward motion, the frictionbetween the wheels A and A and the roadway, tending to retain the arms B and B firmly in a perpendicular position, above described. v

The auxiliary wheels A and A may be lifted from their position in contact with the roadway, by moving the pivoted vibrating arms B and B in the direction of the dotted lines a, and a, fig. 1, which may be accomplished by means of any suitable mechanical device.

. The drawings hereto annexed show two devices for accomplishing this object at the will of the rider, which may be used separately or jointly in connection with and aid of each other. 7

One of said devices consists of the forked lever E,

so constructed that the prongse and 0 when the lever is mounted, as hereinafter described, shall span the wheel D, and permit its free revolution.

Said bifurcated lever E, I mount on the forked reach 0, by a point or fulcrum, at f and f, or at any suitable point, so as to permit the same to move freely in the direction of the dotted line g, shown in fig. 1.

I construct said lever in any suitable form, so as to bring the lower extremity of the forks in front of the pivoted vibrating arms B and B, and below the point at which said arms are pivoted; and I connect the said lower extremities of said forked lever at h and h with said vibrating arms B and B by means of the connecting-rods or links c and i Said lever is constructed so that the portion above the point j where theprongs join, is extended to a suitable height to bring the top of the lever to such a position that the person seated on the velocipede,-by inclining backward from an upright position, will bring his back in contact with the adjustable pad F, which may be constructed .in any convenient form, and by this action bear the upper end of said lever backward in the direction indicated by the dotted line shown in fig. 1, which movement, by means of the connectinglinks connecting said lever with the arms B and B", will carry said wheels forward free from the roadway, as indicated by the dotted lines.

In order to cause said wheels A and A to resume said vibrating le- "vers or arms B and B and to swing them free from contact with the roadway, which may be used either separately or in connection with the device for that purpose above described, I attach to the under side of the reach or bar 0, which connects the wheels proper of the velocipede the vibrating arm G, securely piv-- oted at its upper end to said. reach, at a point, 11, between the wheels .proper of the velocipede, in such a manner as to permit it to vibrate fi'eely backward and forward in the direction of the reach.

This vibrating arm may be constructed of any suit able material, and of any suitable length, varying according to the size of the velocipede.

At the lower extremity of this arm, I attach the T the arms B and B are in aquosition to allow the auxiliary wheels to act, the pivoted arm Gr shall be in a position at right angles with the reach 0, or perpendicular.

' At the forward end of the pivoted cross-piece m, I construct a small sheave or pulley, so arranged as to revolve freely on its axis horizontally, all so arranged and connected, that when the lower end of the vibrating arm (Bl is brought forward, the arms B and B, by means of the connecting-rods o and 0", swing forward to the position shown by the dotted lines, and'free from the roadway.

- In order to enable. the rider to actuate the pivoted bar G at will, I construct the forked standard H, which carries the steering-wheel, and mount it in the usual manner, except that the upper end of the shaft, where the handle for steering is usually attached, I construct a short cross-head, and on said cross-head I pivot a steering-handle, constructed substantially as follows: 7

The handle 3 s has connected with it, at right angles,

the bent levers t and t .so attached as to permit the same to be pivoted to the cross-head at uin such a manner as to permit the handle 8 s to be moved freely up and. down, as indicated by the dotted lines in fig. 1.

The pivots u and u act as a fulcrum; the portions of said bent levers from the pivots u and a to the ends at v and 1: being so bent as to bring them down on either side of the standard H, nearly at right'angles with the portion extending from u to s, the whole forming a bellcrank, the lower arm of which I construct of sufiicient length to give suflicient motion for the purposehereinafter set forth. i

The ends a and 'v of the bent lever or bell-crank, I connect together with a flexible band or chain, of any suitable material, which, being first connected at '0, is passed through the pulley or sheave x, and the other end connected with the other bent lever at '0, this band being so adjusted in length that when the wheels A and A -are in contact with the roadway in their proper position, the steering-handle s s will assumea conven ient position. V The band y being flexible andadjustable, and passing freely about the pulley .1, leaves a perfectly free use of the steering-wheel for the purpose of guiding the velocipede.

The method of actuating the arms- B and B by means of this device,is to depress the steering-handle s s in the direction indicated by the dottedlines in fig. 1, by which, through the actionof'the bent levers, operating as abell-crank, through the connecting-band y, and the connecting-rods o and o, the arms B and B, with their wheels, swing from .their position in contact with the roadway, and resume it again when the steering-handle is elevated to its original position.

Having thus described my invention,

I now claim,.and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The adjustable auxiliary wheels or casters A and A, mounted on the vibrating arms B and B, attached to and connected with the velocipede, substantially in the manner and for the purpose above described.

2. The device and mechanical contrivance for actuating the pivoted vibrating arms B and B and the wheels A- and A, by means of the vibrating steeringhandle 3 s, with the bent levers or bell-cranks s u e, and s u v mounted on and connected with the forked sheave'or pulley x, and the connecting-rods 0 and o,

substantially in themanner and for the purpose above set forth.

HENRY LAURENCE. Witnesses: JAS. BEoKwrrH, P. A. CONAUD. 

